THERE IS A WEIGHT dropped on her chest when he finally speaks; she had been waiting expectantly for some sort of admission disguised as an explanation, or some sort of reason given that would make it seem as though this was all a misunderstanding or a hoax or something to do with his occupation. Romulan blood isn’t easy to come by in these parts - and any mention of Romulus raises the hackles of any individual who professes a love of the Federation.
But she’s talked with this man, spent time with him, she had even considered herself someone who knows him. Or, as much as you can know someone who spends his life in intelligence work.
She finds it very difficult to believe that he could pose any threat to the Federation, but his words allow a sliver of doubt to creep into her mind. He isn’t explaining - he’s being defiant in the face of her attempt to help. He assumes that she has already made up her mind about him, when she hasn’t any of the facts. And as her chest drops her cheeks begin to heat up, a slight buzz of anger tinging them red.
‘I never asked you to apologize, Commander,’ her words are clipped bits of metal falling from thin lips as she ducks behind formalities once again. ‘I asked for an explanation. Because, as your friend, I am willing to hear you out before I bring this to the attention of the Captain.’
“What more can I explain that you, as a medical professional, cannot already deduce? My conception is no mystery, medically speaking.” He struggled to sit up, his gaunt face growing closed.
“After all, I am not the first hybrid of my kind that your ship has encountered.” Blue eyes watched carefully for her reaction. He’d made her angry and it thrilled him and frustrated him at the same time. He knew he was being unreasonable and rude to a woman that might have just saved his life, but he was not thinking rationally. He was merely reacting to external stimuli.
“I also think it ought to be obvious why my hybrid status would be obfuscated. It would not exactly help my career for that to be public knowledge.”
